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Talk:Light Cruisers/@comment-26915086-20180824215955
I’ve been doing some work on light cruisers with a few types being required to better defend and support Odonata and Orion class ships and support Dyasdera class SCRs with integrated AAA. The types required were as follows: Type 1) A support cruiser specialized for AAA and armed with cruiser type armaments for destroying ships of destroyer or smaller size. Such a ship would be the able to both escort Type 2) A fire support cruiser specialized in long ranged fire support armed with weapons capable of accurate fire out to 20km. This type would be the most independent of the Nehean SCRs as it would be able to outrun most of what it cannot outgun. Typ1 3) An area denial cruiser designed to limit enemy mobility in support of long ranged types such as NCS. Medusa, NCS. Traveler, and the ship which would fulfil the requirements of the type 2 contract. Such ships would be flotilla leaders and escorts, with a heavy emphasis on torpedoes as primary armament and only small deck guns. The reasons for building these types are legion. New nehean light attack ships such as the Odonata class of high endurance escort frigates and Orion class of Command frigates were deemed too vulnerable to air attack and enemy destroyers to operate independently or as scouts, to remedy this, a long ranged ship would be required, capable of out brawling destroyers and light cruisers, and providing AAA coverage, as well as recon aircraft for the smaller ships. The first plan was to retrofit an existing design but the only acceptable candidates were the Euler and Luna classes, Euler in particular was a promising option as it is already designed as a command ship, with the added bonus of being inexpensive, however it has only 3x3 15cm guns, and aenemic AAA. After some deliberation both plans for retrofit were rejected in favor of new types better suited to the required tasks. The need for an inexpensive, independent, and capable SCR is a long term dream of the armada’s highest officials, as it would force the enemy to devote a disproportionate response to the escorting of convoys. If accurate fire from 20km could be achieved, frigates, destroyers, and even similar cruisers no longer cut it as sufficient protection. This forces capital ships into escort roles, thus diminishing the battle fleet. Even if the actual ships are quite rare, or rarely encountered, the threat of them is enough. The type 3 requirements are born out of the problems associated with long ranged sniper ships such as NCS. Medusa. Ships capable of reducing the ability to charge such ships are a welcome addition to the fleet. A mid sized protected hull capable of 60kts was designed to achieve the first two types. This became SCR-17, with type 1 being SCR-17a and Type 2 being SCR-17b. Type 3 proved more radical and so a new hull needed to be built. This was designated TSCR-1, for “Torpedo Scout Commerce Raider.” TSCR-1 would be the first (and at they time of writing only) ship of the TSCR classification in the navy. NCS. Tetragnatha and NCS. Pholcus are the two ships currently built as representatives of the Tetragnatha class (SCR-17a) these ships, armed with the 8in triple gun in four mounts can be considered anemic in terms of armament for a Nehean SCR. The reason for this is very simple, This type is not intended as a stand alone vessel the way NCS. Huntsman was, rather, Tetragnatha is an escort ship. The main targets of the 8in guns are light ships such as destroyers, ships small enough that the extra DPS of a fifth turret is not going to make much of a difference. If a ship smaller than SCR-17 is hit with a well-placed broadside, the damage will be crippling either way. The protection package on SCR-17 (it is the same on a and b versions) is very solid, this allows her to fight above her weight class, easily dealing with all AI battleships once in range. Speed and mobility are as one would expect, 60kts and good turn radius being required of all SCR candidates. NCS. Aranea and NCS. Ulobora are the ships currently built as representatives o f the Aranea class (SCR-17b) armed with 2x3 28cm german guns, though packing fewer guns when compared to their cousins the Tetragnatha class, the 28cm shells of these ships are far more deadly and can be fired from longer range. This type is intended as a stand alone vessel, however it is not intended to fight battleships singlehandedly. On the contrary, SCR-17b is a capable hunter of ships as large as heavy cruisers, so long as they are armed with guns in the 8in family or smaller. These ships are built to approach enemy convoys, outgun the escorts, and sink the supply ships, possibly aided by simultaneous attacks by subs and aircraft. NCS. Aranea in particular has additional space for command staff, radio operators, and other crew, which facilitates interoperation. NCS. Idris is a bit of an odd duck, built to launch lightning fast attacks and waves of torpedoes, she has a fighting style unlike any other ship in the armada. Her design is heavily inspired by Japanese torpedo cruisers such as Kitakami and Oi as she packs ten torp launchers and similar gun armament. Idris is surprisingly capable as the waves of death she unleashes are very detrimental to the health of ships in their path. With the exception of particularly tanky ships like Andromeda, Medusa, and Dyasdera, few ships can withstand a 25 torp salvo, much less 2 in quick succession. She is meant to escort frigates, and to initiate ambushes in enclosed areas or at night, where maneuvering is difficult or dangerous. I’ll fully admit that I was skeptical about the viability of torps, and while adding a set of double launchers to an already decent ship seemed fine to me, sacrificing more traditional firepower in a massive way seemed counterproductive. Despite this, this ship really works well. She punches well above her 8.7kton displacement, reliably sinking the AI battleships, cruisers, and destroyers alike. So there you have it, some new SCRs, three ship types built for three very different tasks, I find the cruiser to be the most all encompassing category for warships, we know for example what a destroyer is, as historically destroyers were somewhat similar to one another in terms of size and armaments, but ships as diverse as the Deutschland, Kitakami, and Baltimore, were all classed as cruisers by the nations under which they sailed. I'm not sure what I should post about next, I have reworked Medusa's AAA and superstructure so she is a bit harder to kill, and I should probably get around to posting about Odonata and Orion, though I'm not sure if I should post them as destroyers or frigates, they're about as big as a ww2 destroyer but I have them classified as long ranged Frigates for the purposes of my fleet.